This is my 3D Eternal Champion I am working on right now. First... his standing pose.
It looks odd because I put it into a gif. Next is some examples of a few motions.
This is without the effects added to the image. The effects the effects that would be added to him when in the game is the following. 
That would be on his hand moving along with him over casting the main image. Next is the actual projectile that would be thrown from him. 
and then the actual hit effect of the projectile for when it hits something. 
When creating a game or making 3D images pending on your format each animation, lighting, shadows, and all else overlay each other. For having a camera angle change in game this allows for a true 3D look. as a example of a image without the overlay here is my 3D Eternal Champion doing a special move called the Eternal Side. 
This animation is actually missing an overlay on over 3 sprites and also has a patted white line for the missing overlay graphic to be applied on top. Here is another character I made not long ago called Boba Fett in 3D. First his standing animation. 
I accidentally set the frame rate too fast for this animation so it looks weird. And here is a animation gif image of Boba Fett's 10 hit combo. 
The frame rate speed again is off a bit here and there. eh... And if you would like to see how these animations are actually used in a game here is a link to a video of my Boba Fett and Joda Kast. Please enjoy. ^_^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eenXfuXLKso 
I created this using Adobe photoshop CS2 and a few other programs. Simple. Image in image. Not really 3D but looks like it. ^^ The main reason I am not getting technical on this is because many people would not understand so I am being as simple as possible. If you would like me to get technical please let me know. I will explain spriting, pixel design, graph on graph, and everything else/ ^^